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Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

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The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

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AUDIENCE SCORE

French Cancan Photos

Movie Info

Beautifully photographed, this comedy drama from Jean Renoir chronicles the revival of Paris' most notorious dance as it tells the story of a theater producer who turns a humble washerwoman into a star at the Moulin Rouge. The film is also title Only the French Can.

The glorious final sequence, in which the cancan is finally unveiled to the rowdy audience, is some kind of masterpiece, perhaps the equal of anything Renoir ever achieved: wild, free, turbulent, exhilarating.

Audience Reviews for French Cancan

Renoir's tale of the introduction of the cancan to Paris is a charming tale with charming actors in a memorable tale.

John Ballantine

Super Reviewer

this is lots of fun and better than huston's 'moulin rouge' imo. how wonderful to see the fierce maria felix in such a high profile role outside of mexico. it's a little unbelievable that the aging jean gabin still gets all the girls. and he didn't need to be such a bastard about it either

Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

It was quite seductive to watch this colourful concoction projected on the cinema screen in a beautifully restored print. It has the fluff and exuberance of an MGM musical standing on the legs of the usual Renoir social commentary and his view on the bourgeois and the world of the arts. This is supported by the fact that a fairly banal love story is followed by an incredibly exhilarating cancan final sequence: after all, why should we be so concerned with things so mundane such as romantic entanglements when dancing brings you so much more joie de vivre?

Matheus Carvalho

Super Reviewer

½

[font=Century Gothic]"French Can-Can" takes place in 19th century Paris where famed impresario Henri Danglard(Jean Gabin), who has always had a knack for spotting talent in ordinary people, is facing bankruptcy but has an ambitous idea to bring back the Can-Can to a new nightclub he is planning to open in Montmartre, the Moulin Rouge. To headline, he has recruited a laundress, Nini(Francoise Arnoul), to be his star dancer, even if her boyfriend, Paulo(Franco Pastorino), is less than thrilled and even a little jealous.[/font]
[font=Century Gothic]"French Can-Can" is a fun, enjoyable and beautiful movie about the complications and business of entertainment that ends with a great show stopper. It also has quite a bit to say about class relations of the time period, especially about the mixing of the upper and lower classes. Jean Gabin has charm to spare. But I feel like I needed a scorecard to keep track of all of the romantic entanglements.[/font]